engelbert humperdinck Opened up about the dark side of the entertainment industry. On “The Engelbert Humperdinck Show”, the British singer reflected on his experiences with unwanted advances early in his music career.
Engelbert Humperdinck recalls the unwanted advances of talent agents while trying to launch his music career.
page six The 90-year-old singer said entering the music industry was like “hell”, as talent agents reportedly pursued him for personal reasons, reports said.
Humperdinck recalled traveling from Leicester, England to London in the late 1950s with hopes of making it in the music industry. She also said that her elder sister could barely afford a one-night hotel stay while meeting talent agents.
She also talked about it being “very difficult” to find representation because few talent agents were interested in anything other than her professional career.
“In those days, you know, there were a lot of agencies…that preferred men,” he said. “I had to endure a lot because the agents chased me a lot,” he said.
Humperdinck added, “Then I was true to myself.” “And I avoided all that, but I went through hell with that kind of thing.” The singer described his refusal to participate in the ‘casting couch’ culture of the industry.
“Casting couch, it’s called casting couch right?” He said.
“Not in a Hollywood way, but in an agent’s way, you know.”
Humperdinck said, “Every agent I went to was the same.”
Fortunately, Humperdinck found Sidney Myers, a married man who helped him break into the industry. The agent invited Humperdinck to live with him for six months as he met people in the industry.
Myers helped cover some of his living expenses, and his wife was also welcoming.
“And he was a meticulous person,” he said of Myers. “I liked that a lot.”
Myers was instrumental in helping Humperdinck secure a 42-week stint on the British music variety series “Song Parade”. There, the singer performed under his birth name, Gerry Dorsey, before adopting the stage name Engelbert Humperdinck.